We're really proud to announce that Midwest Energy News has selected two members of the Spark Clean Energy family for their 40 Under 40 list- which highlights leaders throughout the region and their work to accelerate America’s transition to a clean energy economy.

This week we bring you stories from the 2014 Spark Clean Energy Fellows, an exceptional and diverse group of undergraduate and graduate energy leaders from campuses across the country. We hope that their experiences help you see yourself as a future clean energy leader. No matter where you go to school, you can apply for our Fellowship Program. Reply to this email if you have any questions.

"The fellowship was an exceptional opportunity to complete a hands-on project that actually benefited the clean energy industry as part of a fun, diverse team of students spanning the U.S."

Jennifer Williams, Duke University - Environmental Management

"During our Fellowship... I started strengthening and nurturing my network, and it eventually led me to an opportunity with a renewable energy company in the Bay Area. I couldn't be happier and more grateful."

"The fellowship has also led me towards thinking about interdisciplinary solutions more than ever before. To have benefitted so much from the community gave me the drive to develop the same sense of cohesion within the environmental sphere at Cornell. Alongside a dedicated group of peers, I've developed the roots for an expansive series of community-centered events for the 40+ environmental organizations on-campus."

Maria Jiang, Cornell - Environmental, Energy, and Resource Economics

"As a Spark Fellow I was able to meet and work with some truly inspirational people my own age, from across the nation, that were interested in catalyzing a nation-wide energy transition to renewables. It was a powerful experience."

﻿We're sharing this story from our friend, Courtney Gras from Akron, OH. She's the Founder and President of cleantech startup Design Flux Technologies, LLC. As a recent student entrepreneur, we know her experience will be valuable to today's students. Play close attention to the educational opportunities and competitions that meant so much to her.

It was the spring of 2010, and I was an undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering at the University of Akron. Like all good students, I probably should have been studying for a midterm or doing homework. Instead, I found myself in a flurry, Google-searching for terms previously unknown to me. “Target Market,” “Value Proposition,” and “Gross Margin” were not words commonly used in my engineering curriculum. Yet there I was, along with another student that would soon become my co-founder, completing my first business competition application. We started out as two engineers, too busy having fun with electrical vehicle batteries to think twice about starting a company. But with the right “push” from trusted mentors and the right support system, we were able to successfully enter (and become finalists) in the LaunchTown Business Idea Competition.

Our idea seemed perfect to us: a new and improved battery management system. So for two years, we did all that we could. We entered numerous business pitch competitions, and even entered an entrepreneurship program on campus. We gobbled up as many education resources as we could, but for two years, we were unsuccessful in securing funding for our startup.

THE FIRST SUCCESSAlthough things looked grim for some time, we pushed on. One day, through another trusted advisor, we found out about the Student Clean Energy Challenge Business Competition – a business competition designed for clean-tech student start-ups. How perfect! Having learned from our past mistakes, we made an effort to get connected with local entrepreneurship support networks such as JumpStart, where we received free mentoring services with an experienced entrepreneur in our field (note that this mentor later joined us as our full-time CEO – just goes to show you that you never know what will happen when you expand your network!). In addition, prior to the competition we grew our engineering-heavy team by one to include a stellar MBA student to help with business-development. In retrospect, growing our team at just the right time proved to be key to our success. After a nerve-wracking 60-second fast-pitch competition, we were the winners of the State of Ohio Clean Energy Prize and just about broke the bank with our first $10,000 in grant funding!That spring was a flurry of activity for us. Shortly after the Challenge, we received $100,000 in grant funding through the Ohio Third Frontier program. This was our ticket to ramping-up on tech development, licensing the existing Intellectual Property (IP) we needed from the University, and filing new IP on our own as we spun ourselves out of Akron.

CTRL-ALT-DEL: THE ALL-IMPORTANT PIVOT Oh, and did I mention that it was also at this time that we threw-away nearly all of our existing business plan and product concepts and started from scratch?

Yep. One of the hardest realities of entrepreneurship is that often times if you want be successful, you need to listen to your customers, read the signs, and let go. This is exactly what happened to us. Resulting from numerous business competitions, discussions with experts in the field and countless customers, we realized that there was no market for our “new and improved” battery management tech. It wasn’t an easy “break-up”. RE-STARTINGSo in our state of pure determination, we took our combined brainpower, locked ourselves in a room, and came up with a brand-new product concept in a day (that’s how it happens in the movies, right?). In this process, we realized that previously, we had a solution with no problem to solve (a far-too-common mistake for startups), so this time we did things “right”.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAMFollowing a year of re-invention and re-branding, we completed our first demonstration unit with the help of four “rock star” electrical engineering students (who we knew from the University of Akron). To this point, often times you will hear dialogue concerning the importance of picking the right team. As a company, we were very fortunate to grab the attention of the right people at the right time, who not only share in our passion for the technology, but also have the right skill sets, drive, personality, and life-situation to fit perfectly with our team.

THE IMPORTANCE OF NETWORKING At this time, we also found ourselves a substantial OEM go-to-market partner that came as the result of a serendipitous conference networking-event, in addition to other fantastic local organizations that have made our recent progress as an organization quite easy. Just goes to show the importance of getting your startup out there and building your network, something that entrepreneurial support programs have always helped us with. And here we are! Recently back from 20-something-th attempt at raising more funding, we received another much-needed $75,000 in funding to keep us going as we move forward to pursue a large-scale technology demonstration and Series A funding. Speaking of our local support-network, we have recently moved into our own office/lab (ok, so it’s more like a converted warehouse…but that makes it that much cooler). To tie a bow on this story, our lab is now located at the Akron Global Business Accelerator – the exact facility we interviewed at just before our first-ever business competition so many years ago. SUMMARYIs starting a company while in school easy? No. But is anything worth doing ever easy? Further, is it any more difficult than attempting a startup at other times in your life? I don’t think so: being a student can give you a huge edge. With support network we discovered as a team, we had many advantages and student-specific opportunities to grow and learn as an organization. And that’s exactly why organizations like Spark Clean Energy are so important – they are building the very bridge that we at DFT had to build ourselves. So if you’re a student interested in starting a clean-tech startup, the starting point is right at your fingertips! Check out Spark Clean Energy HERE!

Things are moving quickly here at Spark HQ. In the weeks since we were awarded the Cleantech UP grant from the US Department of Energy, we've been hard at work with our partners to prepare for launch this fall. In the mean time, we'll continue connecting you to opportunities in the clean energy space. This week we bring you a few job openings with our partners.

VentureWell - VentureWell has three job opportunities listed on their careers page, including Director of Development and Director of Communications. If you're interested or know someone who may be interested, check them out!

Spark Clean Energy to Run U.S. Department of Energy’s National Cleantech University Prize Program

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- On June 25, the U.S. Department of Energy selected Spark Clean Energy to administer the 2016-2018 Cleantech University Prize (“Cleantech UP Hub”) program, supporting and training the next generation of energy innovators and entrepreneurs. Spark Clean Energy is responsible for training student entrepreneurs, developing a national clean energy prize, and serving as a coordinating body for student energy entrepreneurship training across the nation.

“We are thrilled to be given the opportunity to further our mission of increasing student involvement in clean energy innovation across the country," said Butch Frey, a Spark board member and an administrator of the national program.

Central to this program is a strategic partnership between Spark Clean Energy, VentureWell, and faculty from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to build a vibrant, empowering community for students solving the world’s toughest energy challenges. Student winners of regional and national competitions will be awarded cash and prizes for their businesses.

The Cleantech UP program continues the success of the Department of Energy’s National Clean Energy Business Plan Competitions. Between 2012 and 2014, 750 student teams have competed, creating 70 incorporated startups, filing 55 patents and disclosures, creating more than 120 jobs, and receiving more than $38M in follow-on funding. In partnership with eight regional competitions, Spark will increase the number of participating universities and teams, and expand access to underserved students.

To do so, Spark will offer a cutting-edge cleantech entrepreneurship online course at no cost, hosted at incubators and universities across the country. Bill Aulet, the managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at MIT and a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said “Entrepreneurship in the energy area is of vital importance for so many reasons, and it is also much, much harder than people realize. For this reason, it is imperative that a rigorous approach be taken to the education of the next generation of energy innovators and I am glad Spark is taking the lead on this. We have spent over 7 years developing a highly effective energy-specific educational program for teams of graduate and undergraduate students and we are eager to make this available to any aspiring energy entrepreneur through this new DOE award with Spark.”

"This is an exciting chance to help students from across the nation become clean energy innovators," said VentureWell CEO Phil Weilerstein. "We are thrilled to bring our networks, resources and know-how to this important partnership."

About Spark Clean Energy Founded in 2014, Spark Clean Energy is a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower the next generation of energy innovators and entrepreneurs. Learn more at sparkcleanenergy.org

About VentureWellVentureWell was founded in 1995 as the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) and rebranded in 2014 to underscore its impact as an education network that cultivates revolutionary ideas and promising inventions. A not-for-profit organization reaching more than 200 universities, VentureWell is the leader in funding, training, coaching and early investment that brings student innovations to market. Inventions created by VentureWell grantees are reaching millions of people in more than 50 countries and helping to solve some of our greatest 21st century challenges. Visit www.venturewell.org to learn how we inspire students, faculty and investors to transform game-changing ideas into solutions for people and the planet.

About Bill AuletBill Aulet is the managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship at MIT and also a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Since 2007, he has taught MIT's Energy Ventures course which he created and developed, in which teams of engineers, entrepreneurs, computer scientists, and policy students from across MIT and Harvard learn how to take a great idea in the clean energy sector, commercialize it, and bring it to market. Mr. Aulet is also the author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup. In his distinguished career, he has raised over $100 million in funding for his companies and, more importantly, directly created hundreds of millions of dollars of market value.